Taking Care of the Doctor
by Brightfire15
Summary: Rose is woken up by the TARDIS one night and discovers the Doctor's sick.


It was late one night when Rose woke up to the TARDIS rumbling. Groggily, she opened her eyes and checked her clock. It was two in the morning. The TARDIS wouldn't wake her this early unless something was wrong. Sighing, Rose got out of bed and placed her robe on.

"What's the matter old girl?" she murmured. Then it hit her. Something was wrong with the Doctor. She went to find him and to her surprise, he wasn't in the control room, the kitchen or any of the other places he liked to go to that she knew of. A mental nudge told her he'd gone to bed, which was surprising, considering he rarely slept.

She found his room and knocked on the door. There was no answer. She tried again and heard a soft groan. She frowned. "Doctor? Are you alright?" There was another groan and Rose slowly pushed open the door. She was dismayed at the sight before her eyes.

The Doctor's shirt was soaked with sweat, his face was red, there was a horrid smell coming from his bathroom, the sheets were a jumbled mess, he was shivering, and he kept coughing terribly. Concerned, she sat next to him and felt his forehead. He was burning up with fever and he kept muttering in his sleep. How long had he been like this and why hadn't he told her?

"…don't touch her…I won't let your hurt her…stay away from Rose!" he muttered. "Let her go! Take me instead! Take me!"

He was dreaming about her. Her heart went out to him. "Oh, Doctor," she whispered. She tried to wake him from his nightmare. "Doctor, wake up! It's just a dream! Wake up!" She slipped her hand into his and whispered in his ear. "I'm right here."

He woke up; breathing hard and looking relieved she was there. "Oh Rose…" he whispered. He held her in a tight hug that she returned.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm right here," she said. "It was just a fever-induced nightmare."

"I'm just glad you're here. Not that I'm ungrateful, but what're you doing up so late?" he asked.

"TARDIS wanted me to check on you. She was concerned and I got worried when I saw you like that. How're you feeling?"

He hesitated before saying, "I've got a bad headache, and I'm freezing."

This surprised her a little. She had expected him to protest and say he was fine, but he didn't. "Tell me, how long have you been like this?" she asked.

"Three hours, maybe four," He sounded terrible as he shivered. She opened the closet and pulled out some thick blankets which she quickly covered him with and wiped his sweaty forehead. "I'll get you some aspirin for your headache," she said.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm allergic to aspirin. It's very, very bad for me. It'll kill me."

She hadn't expected that either. She kissed his forehead. "Well then, I'll just have to find something else. For now, just try and get some sleep. The universe will just have to do without us saving it for a few days until you're better, okay? Just rest for a while, I'm right here. Rest and get better, okay?"

He seemed too tired to disagree because he just nodded and instantly fell back asleep. Rose rubbed his hand for a moment before fetching some ice water and some cloths. She wiped his face of the sweat and rubbed his skin with the ice water-soaked cloth to lower his fever. When his fever went down a little, and the coughing fits died, she stopped for a moment and cleaned up a little.

When he let out soft moans of pain and started squirming, she was at his side in a moment.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"My back hurts—bad," he whispered

"Shh, it'll be okay." She lifted some of the covers up and after applying a special oil, gently massaged his back. She worked out the tight knots and soon he was relaxing and his breathing steadied. She continued massaging his back until she was sure he was sleeping.

She bit her lip. He practically never got sick. What could make him so ill? She looked around the room, hoping there'd be something she could use. And to her luck, she found a computer on his desk that provided her with the information she needed after she typed in his symptoms.

_Gallifrieian Pneumonia _

_Due to slight similarities in physiology, illness is only contagious to those of Gallifrey or Earth. This illness is easy to treat but takes a toll on the patient's body and can grow very worse if the treatment is not begun within the first two hours. Symptoms include high fever, frequent coughing, sweating, sore throat, vomiting, back pains and headache. Illness can be treated with long periods of sleep, a special chicken broth which must be fed to the patient within no more than eight hours of first symptom and continued to be administered every two hours. Boiled rose water included in broth has been known to accelerate healing, but is not required for the patient. Patient may be unconscious for several hours, sometimes days, depending on the situation. Recovery can take three to seven days, depending on the situation. Recipe for broth included below._

Rose printed it out and examined it. Hoping she could find the ingredients in the kitchen later. He'd probably gotten it after they'd been caught in the cold rainstorm on Gelen XI. She'd just pocketed the paper, when she heard him coughing again and was at his side in an instant. His condition didn't improve, but it didn't get worse. Deciding she couldn't wait any longer, she stood up.

"TARDIS ring an alarm if he gets any worse, okay?" she said. "I'll be right back."

The TARDIS seemed to purr as Rose left for the kitchen so as to make him some broth. Rose quickly found there wasn't that much food in the kitchen and made a mental note to get some groceries when they next stopped in London. She was quite relieved, however, when she found the kitchen had all the ingredients required for the broth. She even found rose oil, which she quickly added into the mix. Half an hour later, it was ready. Thankfully the recipe had made a large amount. It always helped to have extra. It smelled delicious as she poured some of it into a mug and the rest in the fridge before taking it to the Doctor.

He still hadn't woken up yet, but he needed the broth now.

She gently nudged him until he woke up.

His blue eyes were still glassy and dull from the fever and he looked pained.

"Hey, sorry to wake you, but you need this," she said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's just some medicine. Just drink it and then you can go back to sleep, okay?"

"Alright," he said.

She helped him into a sitting position and he drank the broth within seconds before passing out again.

Rose was also tired, but as she had no intention of leaving him, she pulled his recliner up next to the bed, grabbed a blanket and a pillow from the closet and settled down. She set her watch alarm, took the Doctor's hand in hers and fell asleep.

For the next three days, Rose tended to the Doctor. He slept nearly all the time. He only woke up when Rose gave him the broth, or his fever spiked up or he had a nightmare. When his fever spiked up and he was awake, he seemed to be in a haze and hardly recognized his surroundings, which worried Rose a little. He'd said his headache was gone, but his fever raged on and he was still in poor condition.

Rose was patient and kept administering the broth every two hours, and wiping his skin with the ice water-soaked cloth to cool him down. If he had another nightmare, she would take his hand and softly whisper in his ear, "I'm right here. Don't be afraid." He seemed so willing to accept her help, she privately wondered if he'd really had anyone to look after him like this.

It was late on the morning of the fourth day when Rose woke up in her room, much to her confusion.

"What the—?" she said, puzzled.

The door then opened and the Doctor came in with a tray of food.

"Morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, fine. You?" she asked.

"I feel fantastic. Picture of health; like usual."

"Great," said Rose, relieved. "So, what's all this?"

"Well, I thought since you spent three days wearing yourself out taking care of this daft old form, I should return the favor. How about I take you to a three-day spa and ski?"

"Fine by me," she said, grinning. "I'm just glad you're feeling better."

He smiled and squeezed her hand. "And I'm glad I've got you."

They shared a tender kiss and then got going on their day.

**The End**


End file.
